


Why Are You Laughing?

by AcesOfSpade



Series: Ace's Random One-Shot Collection [19]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canada, Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Character, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 09:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7678636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcesOfSpade/pseuds/AcesOfSpade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John's been trying to tell his girlfriend something since they got together last year, and he finally manages to do it, only to have her... laugh at him?</p><p>When a friend of John's asks John and Sarah Jane something, they both laugh at him.</p><p>Why is everyone laughing? Jack really wants to know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why Are You Laughing?

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's back to writing Smith Squared? Me! Writing for these two again is like putting on my favourite hoodie: comfortable, familiar, and fluffy. I have this headcanon that both the Doctor and Sarah Jane are asexual, the Doctor being panromantic and Sarah Jane being heteroromantic. Enjoy this weird piece of fluff my little asexual heart wrote in like half an hour or less.

The cool autumn air that came with early October in Canada rustled the dying leaves on the trees, giving life background noise so it wasn't maddeningly quiet. Two teenagers sat under a sprawling oak tree, nestled together as they tried to finished their required novel for English class.

 

The female of the pair, Sarah Jane, had her brown hair pulled up into a messy bun, her cardigan pulled tightly around her to protect her from the chill. Out of habit, there was a pencil tucked behind her left ear even though she wasn't writing anything quite yet. She bit her lip as she read, focusing intently on the page.

 

The male, John, was paying very little attention to his novel. Instead, he was watching his girlfriend read, smiling fondly. She was very expressive when she read, always had been. He was also committing her profile like this to memory so he could sketch it later. On second thought, he pulled out his phone and sneaked a quick picture of her like that for a reference later.

 

Sarah Jane caught sight of his phone out of the corner of her eye, pulling her gaze away from the book to glare at him playfully. “Are you planning on drawing me again?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and a playful smile.

 

“I can't help it, love,” John shrugged. “You are my number one muse. I'm not in control of my muse, my muse does all of the work. I simply fuel it with you.”

 

“Did you just quote _Ray Bradbury_ to try and be romantic?” Sarah Jane chuckled, kissing John's nose. “You really are something, love.”

 

“I know,” John grinned, poking Sarah Jane's cheek playfully. “But you love me anyway.”

 

After having been together a year, and being friends for years before that, John and Sarah Jane were more than comfortable with each other. They could tell each other anything, really, without fear of being rejected. At least, Sarah Jane liked to think that. John was worried about what he had wanted to tell Sarah Jane after they got together, and he still hadn't told her. It was all bottled up inside of him, and he wanted to get it out.

 

“Hey, Sarah, can I tell you something?” John asked softly, looking down at the closed book in his lap.

 

“What's the matter?” Sarah Jane asked worriedly, looking over to her boyfriend with a frown. He was scared, and he never got scared. He was her Man Without Fear.

 

“Nothing's the matter, so to speak,” John began, looking back up at her. “There's just something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now.”

 

“It's nothing bad, is it? You're not an alien, are you?” Sarah Jane frowned, both trying to reassure him and lighten the quickly saddening mood.

 

“It's nothing bad,” John shook with his head with a soft chuckle. “No, it's just something about me I haven't told anyone that I think you should know, being my girlfriend.”

 

Sarah Jane's brows furrowed, but she said nothing. Was something wrong with him? She hoped not.

 

Realizing Sarah Jane wasn't going to speak, John went on. “Sarah, I'm asexual,” he muttered. “I don't feel sexual attraction like most people do, I don't feel it at all actually.”

 

Sarah Jane suddenly burst into giggles, closing her book finally so she could cover her face so he wouldn't see how red it was getting from her laughing fit.

 

“What?” John frowned. “Why are you laughing? I'm not kidding.”

 

Sarah Jane took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, making sure she got it all out of her system before she started speaking. “I don't think you are,” she assured him. “In fact, I believe you 100%. Want to know why?”

 

“Why?” John asked, narrowing his eyes. What was she getting at?

 

“Because I am too,” Sarah Jane beamed. “I've known since I was 14, but then everything happened between us, and I didn't think I could tell you because you seemed like any normal guy at school when it came to relationships.”

 

It was John's turn to laugh, but it wasn't as raucous as Sarah Jane's. “That's exactly what I was feeling,” he told her. “I've known since last year, since just after my birthday.”

 

“What a pair we make,” Sarah Jane observed, amused. “A couple of asexuals who thought the other would hate them for being asexual.”

 

“Indeed,” John chuckled, pulling Sarah Jane in for a hug. She happily hugged him back, book forgotten in the grass beside her. _Lord of the Flies_ could wait until later.

* * *

A few months later, around exams at the end of January, John's friend Jack learned that the two were asexual.

 

The trio were in the library at the school during lunch, studying on the couches for their shared English exam. After ten minutes of stressful silence, Jack decided to break it with a question.

 

“So, you guys have been together for almost to years,” Jack observed, looking up from his notes on _Julius Caesar_ to watch the two.

 

“Well, yeah,” John nodded. “What about that is noteworthy?”

 

“Any urge to, you know...” Jack trailed off. “Have a little fun?”

 

John and Sarah Jane shared a quick look and broke out laughing so loud the librarian had to come over and tell them to be quiet.

 

“Did I say something wrong?” Jack asked with a frown. He'd never seen them react to something in this way. They were the calm, level-headed ones.

 

“Jack, Jack, Jack,” John muttered, clearly highly amused. “Wanna know a secret? You can't tell anyone else yet.”

 

Jack nodded, still confused. He was great with secrets. No one knew about him and Ianto yet, and he knew about Gwen's rocky relationship with Rhys. He didn't tell secrets unless he was allowed to.

 

“We're both asexual,” Sarah Jane spoke up, her face red from laughing so much.

 

“Oh,” Jack muttered, nodding in understanding. “That's why you started laughing like hyenas.”

 

John nodded. “Precisely.”

 

“To answer your question though, no, the urge isn't there,” Sarah Jane added.

 

“I mean, at least my question had the desired effect,” Jack mused. “Everything was too quiet and stressful. I got you to laugh, so I win,” he grinned.

 

Both Smiths rolled their eyes, each going to punch one of Jack's shoulders lightly.

 

“You love me and you know it,” Jack teased. “Now, Cooper'll have our heads if we don't study, so let's get back to that, shall we?”


End file.
